Oak Ridge Today

NNSA has information session on Y-12, UPF, electrical substation on Wednesday

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H-frame or H tower transmission towers are pictured at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex off Scarboro Road on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

H-frame or H tower transmission towers are pictured at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex off Scarboro Road on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The National Nuclear Security Administration will have an information session on Wednesday about the Y-12 National Security Complex, the Uranium Processing Facility construction project, and the work to replace the electrical substation at Y-12.

The information session was scheduled after Oak Ridge officials raised concerns in November and December about the power lines proposed on top of Pine Ridge as part of the electrical substation project. Pine Ridge separates Y-12 from the center of the city, and Oak Ridge officials have said they had not received adequate notice of the power line project and didn’t know what other options had been considered. They also expressed concerns about the lack of public input and the visual impact of building power lines and installing transmission towers on top of the ridge. As of December, Oak Ridge City Council members said they hadn’t seen a visual representation of what the power lines could look like. [Read more…]

Road conditions still bad, police say; Y-12 closed

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An Oak Ridge Public Works Department snow truck is pictured on South Illinois Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 16, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An Oak Ridge Public Works Department snow truck is pictured on South Illinois Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 16, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:15 p.m.

Update: Driving conditions on main roads and side streets in Oak Ridge seemed to have improved by about 5 p.m. Wednesday, although there were still patches of ice and snow, including in shopping center parking lots.

Wednesday evening, the Oak Ridge Police Department said conditions had improved on main roads, but side streets were still extremely slick. Drivers should use extra caution if they have to get out tonight. There could be some refreezing on the roads overnight with the low temperatures. Oak Ridge Schools will be closed again on Thursday, January 18, due to the conditions.

A few inches of snow fell Tuesday, and road conditions are still bad Wednesday morning, especially in the city’s neighborhoods, the Oak Ridge Police Department said. The Y-12 National Security Complex and the Uranium Processing Facility offices are closed.

Oak Ridge Public Works Department crews are out clearing and treating the roads.

“If you must go out, please use extreme caution,” the ORPD said.

Y-12 said normal operations will resume Thursday, January 18. [Read more…]

Roads slippery, snow-covered; schools, Key Springs closed

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Streets in Oak Ridge, including main roads, were snow-covered and slippery Tuesday evening, Jan. 16, 2018, and schools announced they would be closed again on Wednesday. Above, the Oak Ridge Police Department responds to a crash on South Illinois Avenue near Centrifuge Way on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo courtesy ORPD/City of Oak Ridge)

Streets in Oak Ridge, including main roads, were snow-covered and slippery Tuesday evening, Jan. 16, 2018, and schools announced they would be closed again on Wednesday. Above, the Oak Ridge Police Department responds to a crash on South Illinois Avenue near Centrifuge Way on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo courtesy ORPD/City of Oak Ridge)

 

Streets in Oak Ridge, including main roads, were snow-covered and slippery Tuesday evening, and schools announced they would be closed again on Wednesday. Key Springs Road—a steep, curvy road that goes down Black Oak Ridge from north Oak Ridge to Marlow—was closed.

The Oak Ridge Police Department advised residents to stay home if they don’t have to be on the roads tonight.

“All roads are snow-covered,” the ORPD said Tuesday evening. “(Oak Ridge) Public Works crews are working to clear and treat roads.”

Even heavily traveled main roads such as Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike were snow-covered and slippery Tuesday evening. Side streets were as well.

The snow, which had started at about 1 p.m. Tuesday, continued past 7 p.m. The forecast had called for a few inches. [Read more…]

Council, school board work session has been rescheduled

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The joint work session between the Oak Ridge Board of Education and Oak Ridge City Council that had been scheduled for this evening has been canceled due to snow and winter weather, and it has been rescheduled for Tuesday, January 23.

Among the items to be discussed are the Oak Ridge Preschool project, proposed general aviation airport, and electrical substation project at the Y-12 National Security Complex. [Read more…]

AC Courthouse closed, County Commission meeting rescheduled

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All Anderson County government offices closed at 11 a.m. Tuesday due to the expected snow, and the Anderson County Commission meeting that had been scheduled for this evening (January 16) has been rescheduled to 6:30 p.m. Monday, January 22, in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse at 100 Main Street in Clinton.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Smith, ORNL deputy director, sworn in as TVA board member

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Jeff Smith of Knoxville, deputy director of operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, takes the oath and is sworn in by U.S. District Judge Reeves as the newest member of the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. Smith was nominated by President Donald Trump on Sept. 21, 2017, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 21. (Photo courtesy TVA)

Jeff Smith of Knoxville, deputy director for operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, takes the oath and is sworn in by U.S. District Judge Pamela Reeves as the newest member of the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. Smith was nominated by President Donald Trump on Sept. 21, 2017, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 21. (Photo courtesy TVA)

 

Jeff W. Smith of Knoxville, deputy director for operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, assumed his role as a member of the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors after taking the oath of office in a ceremony in Knoxville on Thursday. His term will expire on May 18, 2022.

Smith was nominated by President Donald Trump on September 21, 2017, and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 21. He was sworn in by U.S. District Judge Pamela L. Reeves of the Eastern District of Tennessee.

“During my time at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, I’ve seen first-hand the increasing pace of change in energy technology, and how it directly affects people’s lives,” Smith said in a TVA press release. “As a board member, I look forward to helping TVA adapt to these changes and continue its mission of service to the people of the Tennessee Valley.” [Read more…]

Presentation on Oak Ridge Airport scheduled for Tuesday

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Image from a Billy Stair presentation on the Oak Ridge Airport project to Roane County officials at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017.

Image from a Billy Stair presentation on the Oak Ridge Airport project to Roane County officials at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017.

 

A presentation that will provide information about the status of the Oak Ridge General Aviation Airport project has been scheduled for Tuesday evening.

The presentation is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Tuesday, January 16, in the Robertsville Middle School Library. It’s part of a joint work session between the Oak Ridge City Council and Oak Ridge Board of Education that will begin at 6 p.m.

The airport presentation will be given by Billy Stair, aviation consultant, and Bill Marrison, president of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority. In December, Stair gave a presentation about the airport to Roane County officials.

After that meeting, Oak Ridge Today reported that Tennessee officials have appropriated $15 million that could be used for the proposed airport at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge. The appropriation, which is pending approval of the Oak Ridge Airport by the Federal Aviation Administration, would be enough to cover about 33 percent to 38 percent of the current estimated project cost of $40 million to $45 million. [Read more…]

Council, school board to discuss school issues, airport, Y-12 substation

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The Oak Ridge City Council and Oak Ridge Board of Education will discuss school issues and receive a briefing and update on the proposed general aviation airport and electrical substation project at the Y-12 National Security Complex during a joint work session on Tuesday, January 16.

The work session will start at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the school library at Robertsville Middle School. Those who attend should use the main front entrance of the building, located at 245 Robertsville Road, to access the library, a press release said.

“A number of school issues will be discussed by City Council and the Board of Education during the work session,” the press release said. “The agenda also includes a briefing on the proposed general aviation airport in Oak Ridge and an update on the Y-12 electrical substation project public meeting. There will be time for an informal neighborhood discussion with City Council members during the meeting as well.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge city offices closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

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All City of Oak Ridge offices will be closed on Monday, January 15, to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Household refuse and recycling will be picked up on its normal schedule.

Public Works director: Shifting soils can cause water line breaks

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An Oak Ridge Public Works Department crew repairs a broken water line underneath Northwestern Avenue near Nevada Circle at lunchtime Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018. The crew here is supervised by Oak Ridge Public Works Department Utility Line Maintenance Crew Chief Michael Brown. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An Oak Ridge Public Works Department crew repairs a broken water line underneath Northwestern Avenue near Nevada Circle at lunchtime Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018. The crew here is supervised by Oak Ridge Public Works Department Utility Line Maintenance Crew Chief Michael Brown, left. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Soils can shift during extended periods of cold weather, which can cause water lines to break, Oak Ridge Public Works Director Shira McWaters said Tuesday.

On Monday, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson told City Council members that crews had responded to 35 water main breaks since January 1, an average of about five per day.

“It is not unusual for water systems (nationwide) to experience above-average breaks during extended cold weather periods when the ground starts to freeze and the subsequent thawing when warm weather returns,” McWaters said when asked about the water line breaks on Tuesday. “This is due to the shifting of soils that can cause the breaks.”

In Oak Ridge, the age of the municipal water system is a factor in the frequency of the breaks because many of the lines are older and reaching the end of their useful life, McWaters said. [Read more…]

NASA recognizes Robertsville Middle School’s satellite work on website home page

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Robertsville Middle School students participating in the NASA Project-Based Learning course visit Marshall to present their CubeSat project to a panel of engineers. Marshall developed curriculum and trained teachers for the elective course while Marshall engineers served as mentors to the students. (Photo credit: NASA/Oak Ridge Schools)

Robertsville Middle School students participating in the NASA Project-Based Learning course visit Marshall to present their CubeSat project to a panel of engineers. Marshall developed curriculum and trained teachers for the elective course while Marshall engineers served as mentors to the students.
(Photo credit: NASA/Oak Ridge Schools)

 

NASA has recognized the satellite work of Robertsville Middle School on the home page of its website. The project is part of an effort by NASA to encourage learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM.

The partnership that was recognized involves Robertsville Middle School and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and work on a small one-unit cube satellite, or 1U CubeSat.

Patrick Hull, technical assistant for the Structural and Mechanical Design Branch of the Engineering Directorate at Marshall, helped with this collaboration, which is in the community where he grew up. He partnered with Robertsville Middle School STEM teacher Todd Livesay. They created a project that had students design and 3-D print a small one-unit cube satellite, or 1U CubeSat.

Once completed, the students presented their project at Marshall in front of Hull and a panel of fellow engineers.

For the 2017 class mission, students chose a cause that is near to their hearts, NASA said. In 2016, wildfires ravaged communities in Gatlinburg, in the mountains about 1.5 hours southeast of Oak Ridge, taking the lives of 14 residents and leaving more than 2,500 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed. To help Gatlinburg and other communities affected by the wildfires, the Robertsville students set out to develop a CubeSat capable of deploying a camera and radio in space to observe and communicate the regrowth pattern of vegetation after a widespread fire. This information can be used to help communities regrow after destruction, NASA said. [Read more…]

AMSE could move into new location in June

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An artist's rendering of the entrance at the new American Museum of Science and Energy at Main Street Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge/U.S. Department of Energy)

An artist’s rendering of the entrance to the new American Museum of Science and Energy at Main Street Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge/U.S. Department of Energy)

 

The American Museum of Science and Energy could move into its new location at Main Street Oak Ridge in June, officials said Tuesday.

Crews began work on Friday and “increased activity can be expected in the area over the coming weeks as construction progresses,” a press release said.

RealtyLink, the South Carolina company developing Main Street Oak Ridge, selected Oak Ridge-based Summit Construction as the contractor for the project, the press release said.

The start of construction was announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office and the City of Oak Ridge.

The new space for AMSE is located between the current JCPenney store and a future Marriott hotel, which is also under construction. The museum entrance will be on Main Street East. AMSE will be all on one floor, occupying approximately 18,000 square feet. [Read more…]